Washington State Questions Lifted Trucks

We came across this letter to the editor at the SeattleTimes: http://blogs.seattletimes.com/northwestvoices/2013/08/30/lifted-trucks-populate-washington-roads/

Apparently, the Washington State police and highway patrol are cracking down on minor speed limit infractions. This has led motorists in the Evergreen state to get frustrated and start taking out their anger on others, which is totally reasonable. We would get mad if police in California started ticketing people driving 4 mph over the speed limit. That being said, it appears that a few motorists are beginning to take out their frustrations on lifted trucks. The author of this leeter points out some of the vehicle infractions sometimes seen on trucks (ie no mud flaps, truck height) and wonders why these vehicles aren’t being cited.

Why is Washington law enforcement choosing to ignore vehicle code infractions of big trucks? We can’t say for certain, but here’s a few ideas: (1) Lifted trucks are a small percentage of vehicles on the road in Washington; (2) Most lifted trucks are street legal; (3) The majority of officers can’t tell the difference between street legal and non-street legal lifted trucks; (4) Big trucks are cool in the Northwest and cops are afraid it would hurt their image; (5) Russell Wilson, QB of the Seahawks, has a big truck (okay, this one is pure speculation).

For whatever reason, police are not cracking down on big trucks in the same way as other types of vehicles. So, lifted truck owners in Washington, enjoy it while it lasts.